andylanc1975
Regular.
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2012
- Messages
- 203
- Reaction score
- 1
This was my third kit attempted, and confidence had taken a knock from the previous kit, so a few nerves had set in.
Absolutely no need for them at all, the kit was incredibly well behaved!
It's a two can all malt kit, with the usual pack of unnamed freeze dried yeast. The thing that got me interested in this, apart from the name of golden ale was that you got a small pack of vac packed hops in it. Until the day when I can convince the boss that I should get the equipment (and space) needed for AG, kits are the only option according to my good lady and this one enabled me to at least begin to experiment.
Not sure if this was a deliberate act or whether it was just a variation in the production of the concentrated wort in the cans, but one was lighter than the other. Further purchases of said kit (or validation by any of you good people on here) will confirm or deny this.
Production process was as standard, soften the wort, mix it in with the necessary water, so I won't go into detail here. The hops however, this was the new bit for me. For this kit, the producers recommend putting the hop bag into the FV as is with no rehydration. I have since got a different kit with a separate hop bag (Brupacks Colne Valley), and they offer some other options involving boiling approx 5 litres of diluted wort or adding the hops in the dispensing vessel. I'll be trying this approach with this kit in subsequent attempts and will report back accordingly.
With kit no 2, the trub was very, very loose and so when transferring to the dispensing barrel, it mixed up with the final gallon or so of beer and is still refusing to clear some 4 weeks later. So with this brew, I thought lets leave this as long as I can before transferring in case I transferred too early. This time it was in the FV for 10 days instead of a week like I left the last one. Due to a broken hydrometer when I made the initial brew (I now have a backup one!), I don't know the starting gravity, however the final was a steady 1012.
Shaking like a newborn babies rattle, I decided that it was time to transfer the beer, nerves jangling I started the transfer (with 85g of ordinary granulated sugar in the bottom of the barrel)... success, this time the trub stayed on the bottom of the FV and near enough 4.5 gallons of beer came syphoning off. The smell from the beer was amazing, definite hoppy aroma and not too heavy (two things that get big ticks from me), the colour of the beer was heading towards golden from a standard bitter, but not as much as I'd hoped
Not nearly as cloudy as others either (this was taken from the tap in the dispensing barrel rather than the clear top layer in the FV
She is now in the dispensing barrel, conditioning for at least 2 more weeks (been in for one so far). Further picture will be posted once I start drinking.
Absolutely no need for them at all, the kit was incredibly well behaved!
It's a two can all malt kit, with the usual pack of unnamed freeze dried yeast. The thing that got me interested in this, apart from the name of golden ale was that you got a small pack of vac packed hops in it. Until the day when I can convince the boss that I should get the equipment (and space) needed for AG, kits are the only option according to my good lady and this one enabled me to at least begin to experiment.
Not sure if this was a deliberate act or whether it was just a variation in the production of the concentrated wort in the cans, but one was lighter than the other. Further purchases of said kit (or validation by any of you good people on here) will confirm or deny this.
Production process was as standard, soften the wort, mix it in with the necessary water, so I won't go into detail here. The hops however, this was the new bit for me. For this kit, the producers recommend putting the hop bag into the FV as is with no rehydration. I have since got a different kit with a separate hop bag (Brupacks Colne Valley), and they offer some other options involving boiling approx 5 litres of diluted wort or adding the hops in the dispensing vessel. I'll be trying this approach with this kit in subsequent attempts and will report back accordingly.
With kit no 2, the trub was very, very loose and so when transferring to the dispensing barrel, it mixed up with the final gallon or so of beer and is still refusing to clear some 4 weeks later. So with this brew, I thought lets leave this as long as I can before transferring in case I transferred too early. This time it was in the FV for 10 days instead of a week like I left the last one. Due to a broken hydrometer when I made the initial brew (I now have a backup one!), I don't know the starting gravity, however the final was a steady 1012.
Shaking like a newborn babies rattle, I decided that it was time to transfer the beer, nerves jangling I started the transfer (with 85g of ordinary granulated sugar in the bottom of the barrel)... success, this time the trub stayed on the bottom of the FV and near enough 4.5 gallons of beer came syphoning off. The smell from the beer was amazing, definite hoppy aroma and not too heavy (two things that get big ticks from me), the colour of the beer was heading towards golden from a standard bitter, but not as much as I'd hoped
Not nearly as cloudy as others either (this was taken from the tap in the dispensing barrel rather than the clear top layer in the FV
She is now in the dispensing barrel, conditioning for at least 2 more weeks (been in for one so far). Further picture will be posted once I start drinking.
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